Beginning sometime in June, bull Moose begin regrowing the antlers. The bulls would have spent the winter months antlerless. I typically don’t spend a lot of time with the Moose at that time of the year. Their June coats are usually mangy and shaggy—far from photogenic! Gradually, through July, their winter fur is replaced with a sleek, summer coat and their new antlers begin to take shape.
On numerous occasions, I’ve overheard tour guides telling their clients that Moose are “solitary” animals. Especially during the time they are growing their velvet covered antlers, I’ve found them to be quite social. Normally, a group will consist of two to six bulls, but will occasionally include a cow or a cow and calf. Possibly, this behavior gives them extra security with all the extra eyes and ears—alert for predators or other kinds of danger. I guess the guides read about the solitary nature of Moose in a book, but I find it to be an incorrect statement for our Wyoming Shiras Moose in and around Grand Teton National Park! The guides never like it if I challenge them on the statement even if, at the time, they are looking at four bulls together.
During this late summer period of antler growth, their primary jobs are to stay safe, get fat, and protect their velvet covered antlers. Smaller bulls will occasionally “faux” spar, but their antlers seldom actually touch.
Moose often move slowly through a scene, grazing along the way, but they are deceivingly fast. At times, the younger bulls can be playful.
By late August, the bull’s antlers are fully formed. At this point, the tines underneath the velvet are actually pointed and sharp even if they look blunt and rounded. For many bulls, the “time of velvet” is about over and it’s time to “turn the page”.
The velvet strip period is the “end of the beginning”. It marks the end of the antler growth and the beginning of the rut. This “transition” is not pretty! Interestingly, the short period attracts a lot of photographers from all over. Capturing a bull Moose stripping seems to be a “badge of honor” or a “feather in their photographic cap”. In reality, few of the photos will ever be printed and displayed on the walls of the photo buying public. When my wife sees one of these photos, I can always expect her to respond with, “Eeeewwwwwwww, that’s gross!…we’re not putting one of those on our walls!”
It is always amazing to me how the blood and minerals passing under the velvet layer miraculously form the distinctive shape of an antler. In fact, each bull’s new antlers resemble the pattern they’ve had for years. If still in their prime, the large bulls can add a tine or two each year. By mid-August, it is possible to identify many of the larger bulls. Some sort of genetic coding supplies the instructions for the oozing supply of antler nutrients. It’s mind boggling!
By the time bull start stripping their velvet, I have already spent a solid month, or more, following the bulls and documenting their antler growth. I feel as though I have developed some sort of “one sided” relationship with them. I’m compelled to see the changes through, even though, in an odd way, it feels a bit like ambulance chasing! I’m on a quest to see blood!
I’ve never seen much of a pattern to it. A small bull might strip on the same day as a large bull. Another small bull might be the last one to strip their velvet. Around here, the span of time for all of the bulls to strip is only about a week.
If a bull waits until the right moment, the velvet comes off in large sheets. Their velvet can be essentially stripped in 15 to 30 minutes. Other bulls miss “the” moment and the velvet dries on the antlers—requiring them to scrape vigorously for a week or longer. Shoshone, seen above, is a pro at it!
During the velvet stripping time, I tend to like the portrait shots over the full body shots, but of course, I shoot both. I use either a 200-600mm or 60-600mm zoom lens at this time of the year to give me both options.
As you can see in the preceding two photos, their simply more drama in the details of the ragged antlers when zooming in on their head and rack.
I’ve heard people suggest that some bulls eat the hanging velvet, but I am not quite sure that’s the case. I’ve never seen one eat it after it was clinging to the willows, but I suppose that doesn’t mean it never happens. Instead, I believe the bulls are simply using any means the have available to them to remove the dangling velvet. They do, however, shake their heads vigorously in a effort to lose the loose velvet.
Whether Hoback knew it or not, this was THE time for him to strip. Large sheets of velvet were ready to fall off.
But, he missed the window! For the bulls that miss their opening, it can take a week or so to scrape their shreds of velvet. They stop regularly to eat the willows and other leafy plants.
Silverberry grows along the Gros Ventre River and is another food source for the Moose.
The outer velvet usually strips off easily, but the more hollow shaped inner paddles take a little more effort.
I took this photo one morning…then…
…found the same bull the next day. Overnight, he had finished removing all but a small amount of velvet.
Bulls will continue to thrash willows and branches for much of the fall and throughout the rut period. I’ve heard some people suggest they do it to show discontent, but again, I think that’s a bogus statement. They do it to finish cleaning their antlers, to attract cows, and to let other bulls know they are in the area.
Once their velvet is stripped, actual “sparring” can begin. Call it “practice” for what might someday a battle for keeps. In 15 plus years of photographing Moose, I’ve only seen one serious battle and it lasted only 10 seconds. That day, the smaller bull learned quickly who was more powerful and backed off. A lot of the actual fighting must happen very early or very late. I see the broken tines and even large chunks of antlers missing soon afterwards and say, “Dang, I wish I could have been there”.
Wyoming’s Shiras Moose are the smallest of the Moose species. During the antler action weekend, I see some of the antlers from the huge Alaskan bull Moose and can only imagine the beast that hosted the huge antlers. The documentation I can find on Shiras Moose suggests they have about a 15 year life cycle. My wife has been working in the nursery at the Jackson Hole Presbyterian Church for over 25 years. She often sees young adults she took care of as toddlers in the Sunday nursery many years ago. She tells me she is proud to see them as young adults, but it makes her feel way too old. Knowing I have been photographing the Gros Ventre Moose for at least 16 years, the odds are almost 100% that I photographed some of our current largest bulls when they were “toddlers”. It make me feel old, but I am equally proud of “my boys”!
For this bull, Shoshone, the “end of velvet” marks the “beginning of the rut”. He’ll soon lose the shred of velvet near his eye and polish off the patch of velvet on the back of his left antler, but he’s already ready to start courting the cows. Up until this point, he has had no interest in any cow, though some of them seem to pick the largest bull and hang with them. Even at this stage, it is not uncommon for the large bulls to tolerate a smaller bull in his area. A bull can catch the scent of a cow at an incredible distance, even with the wind, and can travel miles to get to them.
By late October, the rut is over, but the Teton bulls still assemble in groups to spar and enjoy each other’s company. One year, I counted 24 antlered bulls in an area about the size of a football field.
By mid-December, and going into January, the majestic bulls start dropping their antlers. By that time, many of them have broken tines from battles I never got to witness.
It’s a sad time for me, but there’s always “next year”…and the Bighorns are probably in the rut on the National Elk Refuge!
I offer year round photo tours in Grand Teton National Park and Winter tours in the National Elk Refuge. Book now! Click the image for additional information.
The post Moose Velvet Period — The End of the Beginning first appeared on Best of the Tetons, Area Info & Photography.